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The next chapter in the Merkey saga

The next chapter in the Merkey saga

Posted Jun 22, 2005 11:57 UTC (Wed) by cgray4 (guest, #11599)
In reply to: The next chapter in the Merkey saga by Seegras
Parent article: The next chapter in the Merkey saga

I hate to defend this guy, but it's not really fair to assume that every computer scientist knows what a killfile is.


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The next chapter in the Merkey saga

Posted Jun 22, 2005 12:50 UTC (Wed) by Alan_Hicks (subscriber, #20469) [Link]

I hate to defend this guy, but it's not really fair to assume that every computer scientist knows what a killfile is.

On the other hand I think it's perfectly fair. In the geek circles I run in, we have three mantras for enlightenment:

1) GAFC
2) STFW
3) RTFM

I cannot reasonably believe that a "computer scientist" cannot STFW when he sees something like "email kill file" and not discover and understand what it means without some malicious intent on his own part.

The next chapter in the Merkey saga

Posted Jun 22, 2005 17:02 UTC (Wed) by mrshiny (subscriber, #4266) [Link]

Ok, #3 I know, #2 I assume is "Search the fine web", but what's GAFC? I tried to stfw but all I got was stock symbols :p

mrshiny

The next chapter in the Merkey saga

Posted Jun 22, 2005 17:19 UTC (Wed) by QuisUtDeus (guest, #14854) [Link]

GAFC guesses:
Get a Fine Clue
Grep All the Fine Code
Guess At From Context

Jeff might think:
Go Absolutely Frantically Conspiratorial

The next chapter in the Merkey saga

Posted Jun 22, 2005 18:52 UTC (Wed) by mrshiny (subscriber, #4266) [Link]

Yes, the Clue one I thought of but telling someone to get a clue doesn't help much as a strategy. Guess At From Context is a good one though.

The next chapter in the Merkey saga

Posted Jun 22, 2005 13:30 UTC (Wed) by jachim (subscriber, #2963) [Link]

Oh come on! I knew what a killfile was about 3 days after I got my first Unix account back in 1990.

The next chapter in the Merkey saga

Posted Jun 23, 2005 0:11 UTC (Thu) by qu1j0t3 (guest, #25786) [Link]

I knew what a killfile was about 3 days after I got my first Unix account back in 1990

I won't ask how you found out :-) Hopefully not the same way as J.V.M. (repeatedly).

The next chapter in the Merkey saga

Posted Jun 23, 2005 13:39 UTC (Thu) by jachim (subscriber, #2963) [Link]

No, not the way Jeff did.

And it actually wasn't email, but Usenet using tin.

The next chapter in the Merkey saga

Posted Jun 24, 2005 13:45 UTC (Fri) by cgray4 (guest, #11599) [Link]

And you are representative of every computer scientist?

I was simply saying that being a computer scientist does not immediately imply that you know what a killfile is. I know quite a few eminent computer scientists (academics) who probably do not know what a killfile is.

On the other hand, I would think in this case that Merkey has been killfiled so many times that in this case he's at least being deliberately obtuse, so it doesn't really matter.

The next chapter in the Merkey saga

Posted Jun 25, 2005 4:02 UTC (Sat) by jachim (subscriber, #2963) [Link]

Actually, at the time I was in the Electrical Engineering program and had not yet gotten my first computer to have a modem.

The next chapter in the Merkey saga

Posted Jun 22, 2005 19:41 UTC (Wed) by xorbe (subscriber, #3165) [Link]

Actually I'd never heard of an email killfile, but I do remember reading Bruce's comment the first time, and my thought was "oh that could be handy to have a list of emails addys to reject for my client"...

If a real comp sci person concludes that an "email killfile" is a mob hitlist... I suspect they might need a little help.

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